Aerial cargo landing container



July 7, 1953 D. J. KlTcH AERIAL CARGO LANDING com'INER Sheets-Sh'eet 2 INVENTOR Darwin rclw f I W ATTORNEY 'Filed D60. 22. 1950 Patented July 7, 1953 UNITED sTArs PATENT OFFICE.

AERIAL oARoo LANDING ooN'rAINEa Darwin J. Kitch, Chicago, Ill. Application December 22, 1950, serial No. 202,280 olaims. (01.244-188) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952),

sec. 266) The invention described herein, if 'patented, may be manufactured by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to packages or containers adapted to be dropped from airplanes for the purpose of supplying troops or persons in distress with food, medical Supplies, petroleum products and other things needed by them. It is well known that when earthquakes, tidal Waves, floods, hurricanes, blizzards or other disasters occur, frequently there are groups of people who are isolated for considerable periods, that is, they cannot be rescued for some time and can only receive aid by air. Also, troops in forward battle areas frequently must have petroleum products or other supplies to permit further advance against the enemy or to make retreat possible. I-Ieretofore, dropable containers have been devised for such situations'but usually thesecontainers have been attached to parachutes, which being wind-blown may carry their loads into inaccessible places and besides in Warfare are easily spotted by the enemy, sometimes drawing artillery fire or even bombers to that area. v

The invention broadly aims to provide a container which has no parachute, yet may be dropped from a considerable height without damage to or loss of its contents. In accordance with the invention, a container is provided which has the following unique characteristics, among` others: .v

(1) It is specially constructed to hold several of the fuel cells which have been developed for Army use;

(2), It Will fall nose down so that the shockabsorbing nose end will strike the ground first;

(3) It will absorb the shock of impact with the ground without spillage of its liquid contents;

(4) The shock of impact is absorbed partly by cushioning means in the nose end, partlyzby a shifting and compression of the-contents of the container, and partly by shearing oif closurefastening elements;

(5) After it strikes the ground, it will frequently come apart or open, so that the fuel cells" may be removed without difficulty; v.

(6) The fuel cells" are removable by a soldier lying prone so as to protect himself against enemy In the accompanying drawings forming a part Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the body member with three properly filled fuel cells in position;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the cap per se;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the metal band shown extended;

Fig. 6 is a detail in enlarged section showing the joint between the nose member and the body member;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section through a modified form of nose member; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of one of the fuel cells."

Referring particularly to the drawings, the preferred container consists of two principal parts, a nose member `II filled with cushioning material, and a hollow body member 12 secured end to end to the nose member and adapted to hold the fuel cells" or other cargo to be dropped.

The nose member H is preferably a drawn plastic casing or tube having a rounded and closed lower or striking end 13. This casing may have Walls a'pproximately one-half inch thick, and may have an internal diameter of about twelve inches, with an over-all length of about thirtysix inches. In the preferred form, the hollow interior of said casing is completely filled with i hard cellular Synthetic rubber [4 up to a point about four inches from the top end, which is internally beveled as indicated at |5. The cellular rubber 14 is bonded to the internal walls of the nose member either by an adhesive coating or by heat, so that it will not become displaced except under the shearing stresses set up upon impact with the ground, as will be described. Preferablyl the top surface of the cellular rubber mass |4 at the upper end of the nose member is dished or made concave as shown at IS to receive a part to be described. The density of the nose member and its contents is always greater than that of the body member |2 when fully loaded, so that the container is nose heavy and will fall with its -nose down.

The preferred body member IZ is a straight hollow plastic tube with Walls also one-half inch thick, with an inside diameter of about` twelve inches and an over-all length of about fty-three inches. Ithas a beveled lower end Il to fit snugly into the beveled end E5 of the nose member, and When so assembled forms a casing approximately in. long. A rubber or other ilexible, resilient diaphragm IB is secur-ed by an adhesive along its edges to the beveled lower end I'l on the inside and it may directly contact a fuel cell 19 which is one of preferably three cells (19, 20, 2|) housed within the body member. These cells will be dew scribed later. When the container is substantially Vertical, under static load the weight of the fuel cells will not cause the rubber diaphragm to bulge outwardly to lie in the concave recess A plurality of plastic fins 22 are preferably bonded tothe .outside of thebody memberto lie in radial planes. lA plurality of straps 24 are secured to a cover or cap 25 which fits in and closes the upper end of the body member. Preferably, the straps 24 are secured to the cap by screws 28 having wing nuts and preferably .the ,straps extend radially and lie flat against the Aouter surface of the cap and also lie flat -against'the upper edges of the fins. Screwstl'll secure .each strap 24 to the upper edge of a fin 22. It is preferred that the screws 26, 21 be made zofplastic.

diaphragm. [tato the. lqxvrmostinel cell IB- 47j'lfheeffect is the same T as=a hammer iblyow on the `fiexible bottom" of cell'|9;`the botto'm bulges upor other easily sheared material. Astraphandle I 28 is fixed to the outside of the cap to'facilitate its removal. To hold the body and nose members together when assembled, a thin,fiflexiblem.tal band 29 may be passed around the circumference of the container outside the joint formedjby the interfitting beveled ends [5, I'l, and the band may be drawn tight and lockedl by insertingits i end extension 30 through loop 3| fixed =to-the Vother end (Fig..5) and then bendinglbacl: the vend extension. If preferred, the beveled endsV [5, l'l may be coated on their contacting surfaces with an adhesive or bonding agent not shown) lso as to unite the two members ll, |'2, or some plug 32 or the like andieachV is preferably about 11%- in. diameter by 17% in.long (inside dimensions) with acapacitynf 8 U. S. ga1lons,-yet weighs less than three pounds. Each is filled so as to contain not more than '7;1/2 gallons'leaving a subs'tantial air space of at least one-half Vgallon or one-sixteenth of the/total capacity. Preferably each cell has a'reversiblelfiexible pouring spout 32a which extends withinthe cell several inches and prevents complete filling of the cell, thus insuring the necessary .air [spacep Such a spout when pulled out v will facilitatejpouring without spillage. The .gasoline in each cell is indicated at 33, and the-airspaceat 34. 'Three such cells will fit snuglyinvthechamber provided inside body member l2 (Fig.3 giving the container a capacity of 221/2gal1ons. Pig-[3, however, exaggerates the space .between adjacent ends of thecells, so las to show the construction. Two fiexible loophandles 345,136 are ,sewed to-the outside of each gas cell so as to eXtend' above either end thereof (Pig-8). Hence, the cells may be pulled out of the container when the lid or cap has been removed. If desired, the three cells maybe securedtogether by tyi-ng their adjacent handles with cord Vto facilitatei plane, it quickly assumes a Vertical position;withr the nose downbecause its nose'is heavier -than` `rises to compress the air in air space 34.

wardly and the liquid in the cell consequently Cell l9 .will thenV l'move upwardly as an entirety, thrusting against the bottom of the intermediate cell-2B, where the process just described is re- `peated,.withconflpression of the air at the top of cell 20. I-Iowever, considerable energy has been ."absorbedrby the cellular rubber mass |4 .and the partiahcollapse and shifting of cell i),

f, so 'that the 'compression of air in cell 2% will compressing the a-irl'in its'toprairspace 34.' -l'I'he 'thrust of =cell :12| is impos'edaga-inst=-the underside of the lid orl cap'25; ahdsaidfcap w`i1l-` shear ofi scr'ews 25, 2'i-if theforce-isisufiicient. 'iWhen the cap shearsoff the screws,{it Vmay be vpulled away without trouble, which exposes lthe interior of thebody memberwithV its three gasicellsj If the screws arenot sheared off, the cap maybe removed by turning the wing nuts` onf`screws'-26. Alsoldier lying prone maygrasp thehan'dles and pull the cells out of thev end of the container and either carry Vthem away one at j-a -lti-me -or drag them over the ground-until he reaches cover -or the safety of his lines. If preferred`,-thefiexible handles 35, 36 may be supplemented: by shoulder straps (not shown) to facilitatev carrying'a cell on the back. I

Referring to Fig. 7, fa modified form 'of nose i member is` there shown comprising a plastic-tubular shell 40 similar to nose member v|| exc'ept that it'has a bore 4| centrally of the ;forward end through whicha'bolt 42 ispassed,V said' boltI holding a metal weight -43 on theoutside of the nose member, with an adapteror washerA 44 interposed between'themetal'weightjand the rounded end of the Shell 40. 'I'heFpurpose'of'thisweight is to increase the mass ofthe nose'member by an amount such as will makethe containervnose used.

ness in the plastic shell vthe apertures may'be spaced l apart around the 'circumferenoeof the nose member if 'three air cells are provided as shown. A mass of excelsior, cotton or'rayon waste, a felt pad or pads, orV other' inexpensive granular or porous cushioning material -50 vmay fill the lower end of the nose member. 'If Vpreferredr, a single air cell substantially completely filling the chamber in 'the nosemembermay be If desired, the metal :weight143 :maybe shaped'like -a tool head, 'for' instanceaihammer head or wedg'ol that-Iit'maybeput touse after removal from'the 'dropped'nosemember i' 'Ifhe de- Assembly of the described containers will 'pre-- sent no difdcult problems, hence will notfibe described.

While specific materials and dimensions of parts have been mentioned` in the foregoing, it will .be understood that other materials and dimensions may be used. Also the invention is not limited to the dropping of petroleum products: on occasion it may be used to drop foods such as coffee, soup, etc. or other needed products. Furthermore, the contaner may be designed to drop a single cell or as many cells as its shock-absorbing capacity will permit. VVhile a two-part container is preferred, it is within the scope of my invention to provide a one-'part container body. I do not desire to be limited except as required by the appended claims defining the invention.

I claim:

1. An aerial cargo landing container comprising an elongated nose member constructed and arranged to cushion the impact when the nose of the container Strikes the ground; van elongated h'ollow cargo-carrying body member axially aligned with the nose member; means to secure the body member and nose member end to end; a closure removably fiXed upon the opposite end of the body member and closing said end; a plurality of fins fixed to the body member on the outside, said fins being adapted to guide the container in its descent; and means securing the closure to the adjacent ends of the fins.

2. An aerial cargo landing container comprising an elongated nose member constructed and arranged to cushion the impact when the n-ose of the container strikes the ground; an elongated hollow cargo-carrying body member axially aligned with the nose member; means to secure the body member and nose member end to end; a closure removably fixed upon the oppo'site end of the body member and closing said end; an elastio diaphragm being secured tol and closing that end of the body member which is secured to the nose member.

3. An aerial cargo landing container comprising in combination, a hollow nose member substantially filled with cushioning material; an elongated hollow body member fixed end to end to the nose member and adapted to hold the cargo; a plurality of fins fixed to the sides of the body member and extending to the opposite end of the body member and adapted to guide the container in its downward fiight; a cap closing said opposite end `yof the body member; and fastening elements including shearable elements securing the cap to the adiacent ends of the fins.

4. The invention defined in claim 3, wherein the hollow body member is closed by an elastic diaphragm secured to that end which is fixed to the nose member.

5. The invention defined in claim 3, wherein the body member is closed by an elastic diaphragm secured to that end which is fixed to the nose member; the end of the body member which is secured to the nose member being beveled, and the nose member being complementarily beveled so that the two beveled ends closely fit together to form a joint; a thin flexible band being passed around the joint on the outside and locked at its ends to bind the two members together.

61A package adapted to drop'liquid products from the air withoutspillage comprising an elongated hollow container which has a removable closure at one end but is otherwise totally closed, an impact-cushiom'ng member on the other end of the container, a sealed liquid-product-contaming cell inside the hollow container but free of attachment thereto and adapted to be inserted in and removed from the end closed by said'closure, said cell being adapted to impinge against the closure upon impact of thecushioning'member against the ground and having flexible walls and an air space above its liquid contents so that the air therein is compressed when the cell impinges as aforesaid, and readily-sheared fastening elements securing the closure to the container and adapted to be sheared when the cell impinges as aforesaid. i

7. A package adapted to drop liquid products from the air without spillage c'omprising an elongated hollow container which has a removable closure at one end but is otherwise totally closed; impact-cushioning means at the other end of the container, said means comprising an infiatable gas cell having an air valve by which it may be blown up, a shell enclosing said gas cell and having an aperture through which the air valve;

projects so that the gas cell may be infiated from outside the shell; means to secure the shell at one end to the hollow container, a weight being secured to the -opposite or nose end of the shell on the outside and adapted to make the package nose-heavy; a sealed liquid-product-containing cell inside the hollow container but free of attachment thereto and adapted to be inserted in and removed from the end closed by said closure,

said cell having fiexible walls and being adaptedl to impinge against the closure on the inside when impact-cushioning means takes the impact of a fall upon the ground; and readily sheared fastening elements securing the closure to the` container and adapted to -be sheared when the cell impinges as aforesaid.

8. A. container adapted to drop liquid products from the air without spillage comprising a hollow elonga'ted body member, a shock-absor'bing nose member adapted tc hit the ground first and cushion the impact, means securing the 'nose member to the hollow body member,l a liquidproduct-containing cell inserted in the hollow body member but free of attachment thereto, said cell having flexible walls and being sealable and having a substantial air space to provide an internal cushion upon impact, a removable closure closing the end of the body member opposite to the one which is attached to the nose member, said cell being substantially in contact with the inside 'of the closure when in body-closing position, and means having cushioning characteristics filling the space between said cell and the cushioning nose member and acting upon impact of the nose member to transmit a thrust longitudinally of the body member to said cell and closure.

9. The invention defined in claim 8, wherein the removable closure member is secured to the end .of the body member in body-closing position by means of readily sheared off fastening elements.

10. The invention defined in claim 8, wherein the means having cushioning characteristics are two fiexible-walled cells each having a substantial air space, and these two cells together with the first-mentioned cell fill the interiorof the hollow body member, so that substantially the 

